student art | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

May 7, 2024May 7, 2024

Food Collages from Wales, UK

Coyle inspired food collage from Wales, UK

The other day I heard from Mrs. Crooks who shared her student art from Class 1 at the Ysgol Gellifor School in Wales, UK. Her students range from ages 3 – 7. They studied my collages as part of their food topic in school where they made their own “painting with paper” collages.

The students used a variety of solid and textured magazine cutouts to make their collages.

Once the students completed their pieces, they covered their pictures with PVA glue.

I really enjoyed taking a look at the variety of colors and subjects the students collaged. They did an excellent job of making these works of art inspired by food, and it’s very impressive that they are such young artists. Collage can be a very challenging medium for beginners since it requires the patience to page through magazines to find the right colors and textures, as well as cutting and layering all the bits of paper.

March 31, 2023March 31, 2023

Animal Collages from Cornwall, UK

Student collage from Cornwall, UK inspired by Megan Coyle

The other week, Miss Smeaden from Cornwall, UK emailed me pictures of her students’ artwork. She teaches a Year 5 class, and they worked on their own colorful animal collages. I had a lot of fun reviewing the class’s artwork and seeing their collage display (pictured above).

It always brightens my day when I get emails from classrooms studying my art and making their own collages. The class did a lovely job of using bright, solid colors and incorporating various patterns and textures from magazine cutouts.

I also really enjoyed how expressive these creations were and seeing how many different animal species the class used for their compositions.

It was fun seeing bits of text from the magazines also incorporated into some of the pieces.

Collage can be a tricky medium when you’re new to it, and these students did a wonderful job of embracing the medium.

I hope these students continue to explore making collages, and I hope they had a fantastic time making these beautiful works of art!

December 18, 2017December 18, 2017

Wolf Collages from England

Year 3, from Collingtree CEVA Primary School in England, tweeted to me the other day with an image of one of their student’s wolf collages. The class had studied my artwork and then made their own collages.

They sent me quite a few images of student collages, so I decided to share a few that illustrated the type of work the class made.

It was a lot of fun seeing how these young artists used solid colors to piece together their works of art. I hope they keep on creating!

December 2, 2017December 2, 2017

Still Life Collages from Pennsylvania

Lauren, a teacher at a high school in Pennsylvania, shared some of her students’ work with me. Her 9th grade students in an introductory art course created collages inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s flowers and skulls, and my collage work and technique.

The students focused on color and separated their subjects and background by warm and cool colors.

It was wonderful getting a chance to look through their colorful compositions.

You can see that some of the students used more rectangular strips of paper for their compositions, which is similar to a lot of the shapes I use for backgrounds or more minimalist pieces I’ve made in the past.

Other students incorporated bits of texture and patterns in the magazine strips they used, as you can see above.

While others had more of a balance of solid colors and textures in the paper they used.

Yet again, I enjoyed seeing more student art. Keep up the great work!

November 21, 2017November 28, 2017

Collages from Columbia, Maryland

Kristin’s students from Columbia Academy in Columbia, Maryland made their own collages after studying my work. The students are 7th and 8th graders, and it was wonderful seeing their painting with paper works of art!

Several of the students had a great way of incorporating text into their collages, like this owl collage.

While others focused on using different textures along with a few solid colors.

I liked how this particular piece made use of type along with the composition of a cardinal.

Overall, I was really impressed with Kristin’s class. As always, it brightens my day when I have a chance to see student work inspired by my art.

And to all the other student artists out there – keep up the great work! I am always impressed by what you are creating!

June 20, 2017

Collages from Durham, New Hampshire

Coyle inspired collage made by a student from New Hampshire — Collage by Hannah

Kim’s 8th grade class from Durham, New Hampshire, recently created their own collages. It was great getting to see what they came up with while using my “painting with paper” technique.

Their work is pretty impressive. Back when I was in 8th grade, I remember the collages I used to make were more like what you traditionally think of when you think of collage. So seeing what these students made, while only using paper for the shadows and highlights for each composition, was wonderful.

I enjoyed seeing how each student used a mixture of solid colors and textures.

Some pieces, like the one above, used a lot of variation in the shapes cut from the paper.

While other student artwork, like the two pieces above, had more rectangular magazine strips.

It was absolutely wonderful seeing images of what the students made. I hope these young artists continue to make art.

June 3, 2017

Collages from London, England

Jennifer, a teacher from London, England, sent along images of her students’ artwork. The students are Year 1 at a London Primary School, and are five and six years old.

The class learned about my artwork and then made their own collages.

It was a lot of fun seeing what the kids made. And it’s wonderful to hear that at such a young age, they are learning all about how to paint with paper.

May 24, 2017May 29, 2017

Animal Collages from Japan

Coyle-inspired collage made by a student in Japan — Collage by Bella

Erica’s Grade 3 class from Japan made their own animal collages after using one of my online collage lesson plans. It was wonderful getting to see images of their work – I like how several of the students incorporated magazine cutouts that had bits and pieces of text.

I always enjoy hearing from students and teachers who study my work in school, and I enjoy it even more when I get to see what the students have made. It’s a lot of fun seeing how each artist has their own unique style and adds their own bit of personality to their art.

I hope these students continue to make artwork. Their work is already very impressive, just imagine what they could accomplish in a few years!